'We're not just eye candy': Meet the female WWE wrestlers who are changing the game

In recent years, the world of sport has seen a progressive shift for female athletes. Stars such as Ronda Rousey, Serena Williams and Jessica Ennis-Hill have proved to be game-changers, ushering women’s sport into a period of greater acceptance, empowerment, and credibility.

The world of sports-entertainment – WWE’s self-coined brand of professional wrestling – has been enjoying a similarly progressive movement, dubbed the “women’s revolution.”

Now, the female wrestlers – including Sasha and on-screen rival Charlotte Flair, the current Women’s Champion from WWE’s Monday night show Raw – are the subject of an all-new documentary, Smashing Glass Ceilings: The Women of WWE, which launches on All 4 today.

Charlotte Flair as Raw Women's ChampionCredit:
WWE

Directed by longtime WWE fan and broadcaster James Delow, it focuses on how Sasha and Charlotte came to face one another in the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell match – WWE’s trademark 20ft steel cage . It is also the first time women will headline a WWE pay-per-vie event.

“It’s one thing to deal with being in the first ever women’s Hell in a Cell,” says Charlotte, “but being the main event, it was almost like I couldn’t compartmentalise what to be more nervous about.

“It doesn’t feel real.”

It’s not about looks. It’s about skills, and what we bring to the table every weekSasha Banks

They’re not the only women at the heart of WWE’s revolution – other names that deserve credit include Natalya, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Paige, and Nikki Bella, some of whom also feature in Smashing Glass Ceilings – but Charlotte and Sasha have been its most prominent faces, trading the Raw women’s title back and forth several times over the last six months.

For 25-year-old Sasha – real name Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado – it’s a realisation of an obsession that began aged 10. Her issue, however, was that female wrestling was then little more than scantily-clad catfights, low-quality filler matches and performers who were more glamour models than wrestlers.

'Wrestling changed my life'Credit:
WWE

“Wrestling changed my life,” she says. “I grew up with a very crazy Christian mom who went to church every day. When I told her I wanted to be a wrestler – during the time of bra and panties matches – she said, ‘Absolutely not, there’s no way I want my daughter to do this’. I said, ‘No Mom, I don’t want to do that, I want to be like the guys.

“I wanted to be a woman who changed the game and changed how people viewed women in wrestling.”

Sasha, who’s nicknamed ‘The Boss’, competed on the independent circuit before finally making it to WWE in 2012. Almost five years on, she still seems every bit that wide-eyed fangirl.

Charlotte, however, had no intention of going into wrestling, even though she’s the daughter of wrasslin’ legend Ric Flair (her real name is Ashley Fliehr – ‘Charlotte’ being a reference to her and dad’s hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina).

She was a successful indoor volleyball player and personal trainer before learning the ropes - her 5"10 stature and muscular physique securing her status as one of the WWE’s best athletes.

The chemistry between Charlotte and Sasha began redefining women’s wrestling from the moment they first trained together.

'We’re so competitive – we just want to raise the bar'Credit:
WWE/All Four

“The very first day Sasha and I stepped into a ring,” recalls Charlotte, “our trainer walked up and said, ‘Wow, I could feel that you guys have something’.

“Ever since, our drive has been to be the best. We’re so competitive – we just want to raise the bar. She’s my Kryptonite.”

It’s very hard on your body. But like anything in life, if it’s your dream then put your whole heart out thereSasha Banks

Since their respective debuts on WWE television, there have been huge leaps forward. WWE’s female performers are no longer “Divas”, but now upgraded to regular “Superstars”, like their male counterparts. The quality of women’s wrestling action has surpassed anything that’s happened in WWE before. Charlotte and Sasha (in a three-way match with Becky Lynch) stole the show at WWE’s flagship WrestleMania pay-per-view. They became the first women to ever headline a Raw show, then the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October.

“It’s not about looks,” says Sasha. “It’s about skills, and what we bring to the table every week. We’re trying to outdo the guys and make it so people don’t say, ‘That was a good women’s match’, but instead say, ‘That was a good match, period’.”

Charlotte powerbombs Sasha through the announcers' table before the Hell in a Cell match startsCredit:
WWE

Sasha’s living her childhood dream, but wrestling is a tough life – a grueling, physically demanding schedule, especially when performing in hard-hitting matches such as Hell in a Cell, being tossed into steel mesh, slammed onto tables, and getting clobbered with various weapons. There are just some things you can’t fake (a dirty “F-word” in wrestling circles).

“It’s very hard on your body,” says Sasha. “But like anything in life, if it’s your dream then put your whole heart out there. You need to have a real love for wrestling to travel, to leave your family, to get zero sleep, to wake up and hit the gym, and eat healthily, just so you look good each week.”

Despite that, pro wrestling is often been sneered at by “real” sports. But with female superstars like Charlotte and Sasha demonstrably changing what women can achieve, I ask if they’re amongst the generation of female athletes reshaping the sporting landscape for women.

“One hundred percent,” says Charlotte. “Sports-entertainment is a male dominated world. But things are changing, and I definitely think the women of WWE are part of that. We’re not just eye candy or popcorn break matches.”

But what’s next? What barriers are left to break down? Which glass ceilings remain to be smashed?

This weekend is the Royal Rumble pay-per-view, which features WWE’s annual 30-man over-the-top-rope match of the same name. The winner goes on to a championship match at WrestleMania in April.

Women have entered before, including the late Chyna, but never won. WWE is far beyond the dark days of staging inter-gender violence, but finding a creative way to crown a female winner is not inconceivable.

When I suggest that Sasha could win it, she laughs – but I think she believes it could happen one day.

“The sky’s the limit,” says Sasha. “What can’t we do?”

Smashing Glass Ceilings: The Women of WWE is on All 4 from Friday 27th January